


Anidala

by early works (jennyraylen)



Series: Old Star Wars One Shots [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Anakin doing Padme's hair, Angst, F/M, Fluff, One Shot, he's bad at it, old stuff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-30
Updated: 2020-08-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:27:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26186392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jennyraylen/pseuds/early%20works
Summary: Anakin wakes up beside his wife and tries (key word: tries) to help her do her hair.
Relationships: Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker
Series: Old Star Wars One Shots [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1901638
Comments: 5
Kudos: 20





	Anidala

**Author's Note:**

> This is one of the first Star Wars fics I ever wrote. It's not completely canon compliant, since I believe Padmé could do her own hair according to Queen's Shadow, but that book wasn't out at the time, so can't really be blamed for that. 
> 
> Fun fact: I wrote this back when I hated the prequels and had only seen Attack of the Clones twice (one of those times for the sole purpose of writing this). Strange times, those were. I wrote this for my friend's birthday, who loved the prequels and shipped Anidala much harder than I did.
> 
> Originally published July 15, 2018.

Anakin woke up beside his wife after a rare dreamless night. For the first time in weeks he felt well-rested. The nightmares about his mother had ceased after she had died, but they had been replaced with dreams of him killing...

Anakin couldn't finish the thought. His actions that fateful day still haunted him. Was he really the monster who could do such things? He was a Jedi Knight now. Why couldn't he rein in his anger? Why did it fill every moment of every day? Why were his hatred and fear his core motivations?

Padme stirred, interrupting his self-reflection. Anakin's worries disappeared when Padme smiled, her eyes still closed. "Good morning, Ani," she murmured.

"Morning." So far it had been pretty good, but Anakin didn't count on it staying that way.

Padme sat up and stretched. "Do you need to go? Is it dawn yet?"

Anakin shook his head. Without even looking outside he knew the sky was still dark through the Force. "We have a few more hours together before Obi-Wan comes looking for me."

Padme yawned and snuggled up against his chest. "I love you," she whispered. Anakin rubbed her back, staring off in the distance.

"I love you too."

Something stirred inside Anakin, and he could no longer sit still. He stood up, put on a shirt, and began to leave the room.

"Where are you going?"

Anakin stopped and turned around. "Outside. To...contemplate." How could he explain to her the constant struggle he fought in his mind every day? She would never understand the conflict within him. It was normal for a Jedi to feel conflict from time to time, but for it to be a constant state was both dangerous and unnatural. It was a sign of turning. Obi-Wan sensed it within him, Anakin knew, but none of the other Jedi seemed to notice. Perhaps his attempts to cover up his anger and hatred had succeeded, or maybe something even more sinister was at play. Anakin couldn't know. The Dark Side seemed to cloud everything, even for a Jedi as powerful as he.

Anakin looked out from the balcony, wishing things were simpler. He longed for a day when there was no war, no Jedi Order, no dark presence within him. A time when he could settle down, create a family with his wife, and just _be._

_I just want to be. I don't want to worry about turning; I don't want to have to worry about being found out, of being killed in battle, of losing my wife, or not becoming a Jedi. I just want to be._

That was what he told himself. After all, if that were what he wanted, life would be simpler. But deep down, he knew more than anything else he wanted power. He needed to be a Jedi Master. He had to prove himself to the Jedi Order and the world how great and powerful he was. Maybe then he would be respected. Perhaps then he could be his own master. But that wish complicated things, especially with Padme, so he buried it deep down and denied he even felt that longing at all.

When Anakin went back inside, he found Padme in the bathroom, wrestling with her hair. Her face was scrunched up in frustration as she attempted to twist the strands in some complex braid, her arms at strange angles. She was failing extravagantly. "I usually have my servants do my hair for me, but I dismissed them when I found out you were spending the night." She groaned, letting her hair drop. "Forget it. I'll just let it down today."

"I could do your hair for you," Anakin offered.

Padme laughed. "Oh, Ani, I adore you, but that is just too funny. It's much more complicated than you might think." She shook her head, letting her hair fall free, and picked up a brush. Anakin took it from her.

"I can battle a droid army single-handed, and yet you say I can't do your hair?" Anakin said, swiping the brush around as if it were a lightsaber. He grinned. "Come on; you got to at least let me try."

Padme crossed her arms, shaking her head, but he knew it took every bit of her political side not to smile. "Fine. I'll coach you. I watch my servants do my hair every day; I think I can walk you through it." She turned around and swished her hair a second time.

Anakin stared at the flowing locks, lost at where to start. "I was wanting two side buns and a long braid in the center today. You think you can handle that?" Anakin nodded, knowing it was far too late to turn back now. He hadn't even begun and already things were looking far more complicated than he had anticipated. "Okay, so first you need to separate my hair into two parts. One lower half, one higher half. Pretty simple." Anakin gulped, then began to separate her hair into two semi-equal parts. "Now I need you to pin up the higher hair." Anakin nodded, following her instructions, and she handed him a pin. He clumsily opened it and pinned up her hair. It took three tries, but then finally he had pinned up her hair and got it mostly out of the way. A few strands slid out, and Anakin groaned.

Padme giggled. "If it's too hard I can--"

"No!" Anakin cut her off. "I can do this." He scrunched his face together in a determined look. He was going to do Padme's hair if it was the death of him. "What do I do next?"

"This part is easy. Braid the lower half of my hair and secure it with this tie." She held up a brown hair tie.

Anakin knew how to braid--after all, he used to braid his own hair every day back when he was a padawan. While doing Padme's hair was turning out to be a lot harder than he thought it would be, so far her hair wasn't looking too bad. He smiled, confidence growing inside him.

"The next part is the most difficult." Anakin deflated, the smile immediately leaving his face. "First, unclip my hair and separate it into two parts, one on each side." Anakin followed her instructions. "Now twist one half into a bun and use these pins to secure it in place." She gestured to a pile of bobby pins lying on the counter.

Anakin twisted her hair and slowly shaped it into a bun. He pressed it hard against her skull with one hand as he reached for the pins but came up just short. Finally, he pulled the pin into his hand using the Force. He smirked at Padme, who rolled her eyes, smiling. Grinning, he pinned her hair in place. While he might be able to use the Force to aid in doing her hair, he wanted to prove to her he could do this with only his hands and mind. No tricks or cheating, this trial was all about skill. A skill Anakin admittedly did not possess.

When he was done securing the pins, the result was a royal mess. Strands stuck out at odd angles, unsecured. The bun itself was lopsided and misshapen, and Anakin was not in the mood to undo it and start all over again.

"How is it looking?" Padme asked, smiling softly.

"Uhhh..." While a Jedi wasn't supposed to lie, he felt this was an exception. "It looks great, sweetie!" He smiled awkwardly, hoping she didn't see through the facade, and began working on the other bun. That one ended up looking even worse than the first, being much higher on her head than the other. No matter how many pins he stuck in her hair, it still threatened to fall out entirely.

Anakin finally gave up trying to fix the disaster of a hairdo and lowered his arms, putting them at his side. "I'm done," he said, defeated. "Maybe you should just have your hair down today. I think it would look nicer, actually." He pasted on a smile, hoping against hope she would agree and let him take down her hair before she saw what a horrible job he had done.

Padme took out a mirror and turned around to look at her hair "Wait!" he exclaimed before she could look in the mirror. She looked at him, surprised at his outburst. "I mean, you don't have to look at it, do you? I can just take it down..."

Padme smiled knowingly. "It's that bad?" she teased.

Anakin grimaced, finally giving up the battle. "Fine! Yes, it's terrible. I admit it." He hung his head as she looked at her hair, his face beet red.

Padme burst out laughing. "Oh, Ani! It is terrible!" She continued to laugh, unable to say more through her giggles.

"You don't have to wear it out in public. I'll undo it for you."

Padme put down the mirror and lifted her chin. "Oh, no, I'm keeping my hair like this." She admired her hair as if he had done a fabulous job. "If anyone asks, I'll tell them I did it myself and fake innocence. No one will dare correct me." She winked at him through the mirror.

Anakin's jaw dropped as his heart warmed. "You don't have to do that for me!" He took his beloved wife in his arms and looked down at her soft lips and brown eyes.

"I know," she whispered.

"I love you," he said, and kissed her.


End file.
